{"id":37075,"date":"2018-01-20T18:21:42","date_gmt":"2018-01-20T18:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/20\/turkish-jets-bombard-kurdish-run-city-of-afrin-in-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:55:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:55:12","slug":"turkish-jets-bombard-kurdish-run-city-of-afrin-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/20\/turkish-jets-bombard-kurdish-run-city-of-afrin-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish jets bombard Kurdish-run city of Afrin in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KOCABEYLI, Turkey \u2014 Turkish jets bombed the Kurdish-controlled city of Afrin in northern Syria on Saturday, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to expand Turkey\u2019s military border operations against a Kurdish group that has been the U.S.\u2019s key Syria ally in the war on the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The raids came on the heels of a week of sharp threats by the Turkish government, promising to clear the Kurdish People\u2019s Protection Units, or YPG, from Afrin and its surrounding countryside, also called Afrin. Turkey\u2019s military is calling the campaign Operation Olive Branch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey says the YPG \u2014 a group it considers a terrorist organization \u2014 is an extension of an outlawed Kurdish rebel group that it is fighting inside its own borders, and it has found common cause with Syrian opposition groups who view the YPG as a counter-revolutionary force in Syria\u2019s multi-sided civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press journalists at the Turkish border saw jets bombing positions in the direction of Afrin, as a convoy of armed pick-up trucks and buses believed to be carrying Syrian opposition fighters traveled along the border. Video from Turkey this week showed the military moving tanks to the frontier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rojhat Roj, a YPG spokesman, confirmed the strikes, saying they were the first by the Turkish military on the city. He said ten civilians were wounded, three seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Russian Defense Ministry said, meanwhile, that it was pulling back troops that had been deployed near Afrin, two days after Turkey\u2019s military and intelligence briefs travelled to Moscow to discuss the planned operation. It said the group of observers was being relocated to another area. It was not immediately clear how many troops were affected by the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\t